Vacuum-tube electric-lighting apparatus.



D. Mo'F. MOORE. VACUUM TUBE ELECTRIC LIGHTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIOI FILED APR. 16, 1908.

Patented July 16, 1912.

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VACUUM TUBE ELECTRIC LIGHTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, 1908'.

1 ,()32,928, Patented July 16, 1912.

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D. MoP. MOORE.

VACUUM TUBE ELECTRIC LIGHTING APPARATUS.

APftIJIOATIOIN' FILED APR. 16, 1903.

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D. MUF- MOORE. VACUUM TUBE ELECTRIC LIGHTfNG APPARATUS. v

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, 1998, 1,032,928, Patented July 16, 1912.

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UNITED S ES PATENT "OFFICE.

DANIEL MOFARLAN MOORE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

VACUUM-TUBE ELECTRIC-LIGHTING APPARATUS.

Application filed April .16, 1908. Serial No. 427,368.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1912.

To all whom'it may concern:

Be it lrnownthat 1,.DAN1EL MCFARLAN Moonrn'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum-Tube Electric-Lighting Apparatus,

of whiclathe" following is a specification.

My invention relates to that form of electric lighting apparatus or installation in which vacuum tubes of considerable len'gth areemployed as in the system of vacuum tube lighting devised by me .and now in commercial operation. Asusually operated thetubes of this system are extended over the areas to be lighted and the gas 6r vapor within the tube is excited to luminosity by the a plication ,of alternating or varying electric currents which have to 'be' of a tension'or electromotive force increasing with the length of the tube employed. If a straight tube of verylgreat length having its electrodes at opposite ends and provided with a single source of electromotive force at one end be used, it is necessary to connect the electrodes at the opposite end of the tube by a wire through which a very high tension current flows. Y

It has been customary in the above system of lighting to incase the source of high tension currentin a: danger proof box at one end and protect the wire leadin to the other end by a suitable conduit. This works well for tubes up to a certain length, but when it is desired to use extremely long tubes, the

tension necessary to operate these long tubes becomes so high that troubles are very liable to arise .with the transformers and the breaking down of the insulation and therefore fire-risks and danger to life are greater. To avoid running a high tension wire to the box. This, however is open to the same serious object-ionsas the straight tube when a long length is employed, as the use of the extremely high tension necessary creates considerable trouble in the danger proof box as set forth."

remove the clittlculties above alluded to and also the fire risk and'danger to life and One object of my present invention is to property which might arise from the employment of these very high tensions, and

to these ends my invention consists mainly in the utilization of a divided source of electromotive force for supplying currentof the necessary tension to the tube. For instance, if it is necessary to supply 20,000 volts to a tube of a certain length, by practising my present invention, it would merely be neces-' sary to supply 10,000 volts to each end of the tube and connect the respective sources of such electromotive force in seriesor parallel.

Another object of my invention is to sim plify the apparatus by reducing the size of "its component parts which I accomplish by employing generating apparatus at both 'ends of the tube.

My invention consists further in utilizing the well-known fact that any circuit has a zero point at an equal distance from the oppos'ite poles and by utilizing this fact, the employment of return wiresof high tension is avoided.

This part of my invention consists in connecting the points of zero potential of the sources of electromotive force to each other, which connection will therefore be "neutral and at zero potential. If desired, thisneutral wire or connection might be grounded or the zero points of veach source might be connected to ground in which case no return wire is employed, the ground forming'the return for the circuit. To obtain the point -of zero potential of the respective transformers which form'the source of electromotive supply, the primary and secondary windings are connectedtogether.

My invention is more particularly set forth in the sub-joined description taken in I connection with theaccompanying drawings and then specified in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l illustrates in skeleton the usual arrangementof a vacuum tube lighting system as at present employed with a 'straight tube and Fig. 2 illustrates the usual arrangement with a loop tube. Fig. -3 shows in skeleton one of the imroved arrangements or installations em-v Eodying my present inventionl Fig. 4 IS a skeleton diagram of the arrangement shown in Fig; 3. Fig. 5 and following figures show in diagram other arrangements or modifications of my invention.

IOU

gas or vapor. 4 is a my 5 of a transformer.

Referring to Fig. 1, 2 is a vacuum tube furnished, preferably, with the usual in-' terior electrodes 3 by which energy is trans ferred to and passed through the contained protective casing from which said tube extends, one terminal ofsaid tube being located in said casing wherein also is located, preferably, the source of electrical energy which may be the second- At 4' is another protective casing sealing the remote end of the tube and. similar to 4. 6 isa wire conduit or protective tube extending from casing to casing andcontaining the return wire or connection 7 of the system, while 8 is any suitable supporting fixture for the inter'mediate portions of the tubes 6 and 2. The primary of the transformer is indicated at 9, while 10, 10' are the supply wires by which alternating or other electric currents are supplied to and pass through the primary 9. This figure shows one old form-or arrangement of the tube, but in other arrangements heretofore employed, the end of the tube, terminating in 4 might be brought .around into the casing 4 as shown in Fig. 2.

In the system shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is obvious that the greater the length of the tube and the greater the consequent potential or electromotive forcerequired for operating the same, the greater will be the fire out pointsof the of potential.

My resent invention consists of a system system of high differences by whlch the length of the tube or the num-' berof tubes running in series may begreatlyincreased without necessitating the employment of high tension return Wires One of the waysin which this may be ac.- complished isshown in Fig.- 3. In this instance, the source of energy for supplying the tube is divided or otherwise stated consists of twoseparate sources operating as one to supply the'tube with energy in series with one another. One of'the sources is indicated as the secondary 5 of a transformer,

indicates the other source or division of the source. I prefer to employ a; neutral wire or connection 12 running from one source to the other and connected, prefe'rably, also to the primaries 9, 9' of the'two sources or divisions of source, as indicated more clearly in the diagram, Fig. 4, but .ob-

viously this neutral-wire might be dispensed with as illustrated Fig. 13. p Asshown in Fig. -3, the two sources are the neutral wire or connection located, respectively, in the boxes 4, 4. or may be otherwise located, as will be' seen "in some of the other figures. The return wire or connection 7 of the system,.may run with 12 through'the conduit 6. The neutral connection may, if desired, be composed of a ground formed by grounding the intermediate or connecting wire of the primaries and secondaries at the point of zero potential thereof as illustrated 5,; i in Fig. 13, or, if desired, the neutral wire and the ground connection may be both employed. In other words, the neutral connection of my invention may consist of con necting wire 12, or a groimd connection, or.

or connection, and that similarly the second? aries are in series with one another over such neutral wire or connection.

In the diagram, Fig. 4,-I have shown in addition the usual feedregulating magnet coil '13 employed for governing the'admis: sion of gas to the tubethrough a suitable Valve and feed tube 14, as is now usual in this art. These, however, form no special part of my present invention. As shown in Fig. 4, the transformer ated in series from the same pair of supply wires 10, 10, but it would be within my invention to operate said primaries from se arate supply wires or from the same supply wires in multiple. The arrangement shown in Fig. 4 has the advantage that the neutral wire 12 or the neutral connection forms also ,the series connection between the primaries ,or other elements of the divided source or I double source of energy.

risk or danger due to the presence at difier Fig. 5 shows an arrangement wherein two tubes are arranged end to end'orin series and supplied in series with one another from thetwo secondaries operating as before in series- The neutral wire or connection may be grounded as before and a similar ground connection maybe employed at the intermediate connection between the two tubes.-

The neutral may form the third 'wirelfi of a three-wire system and in .this, as, in the prior m'stances,

The-two primaries are n series across a-22Q volt system, the difierence of potential between the extreme wires and thilltGIl'llGdI-e 5 pri nar'ies are operthe tubes are supposed-to be supplied with single phase currents;

ate wire being however but 110 voltsand each primary therefore being,- ated' on 110 volts. Each tube may'liaveits own means for feeding gas and each' tr'ans in fact, o er-,

former maybe in its own box, theboxes being located'at'extrenies of the instal-latioj n and the tubes being arranged end to end. a

-Fig. 6' shows a modificationof this er-v rangement wherein the tubes are arranged parallel to, one. another and the source of energy or divided source is locatedf-at'one terminal or at one'point of the installation. The neutral -wire or connection is indicated as before by the nujneral .12. J

.catedjn' Fig. 6, excepting that the "divided 111 the modification shown in, Fig. 7-,]at g arrangement is in general'the' same a's-indi l remote from one another at or near the ends of the two parallel tubes. In Fig. 7, each primary or section of primary is supposed to be run on 110 volts and on the single phase system.

Fig. 8 illustrates the invention as carriedself-explanatory.

Fig. 9 shows two pairs of tubes, the two tubes of each pair being operated respectively by currents out of phase for the purpose of securing a steady light with low frequencies. 1

Fig. 10 shows three tubes as operated on a three-phase delta system, the transformers or section of transformers being in V.

Fig. 11 shows the three tubes operated on a three-phase star system, the transformers being in star and the neutral being grounded.

Fig. 12 illustrates a three-tube, threephae delta system, the transformers being in Fig. 13 illustrates the invention as carried out without employing a neutral wire, the points of zero potential .of the two sources being grounded as shown, in which case the return is made through the ground.

Fig/14 illustrates the invention as applied to two tubes arranged in close proximity to each other and provided with a s1n gle reflector 30.. In this case, each tube is independent of the other, each being pro vided with its own sources of energy and-- each operated on a diiferent phase and therefore the light from these tubes will not throw any image. A further advantage in this arrangement is that should one of the tubes cease to operate from any cause whatever, light will still be obtained from the other.

Obviously, my invention is not limited to connecting the windings of the transformers and connecting the neutral-points to obtain the return circuit as one end of eachsecondary winding might be connected to ground, the'return wire or neutral wire 'being replaced by the ground. What I claim as my invention is 2-- 1. A vacuum tube lighting system. oper-' vated by divided sources of energy working in series, as described, and located respectivelyat opposite terminals of the system and a neutral connection between the diviminal to the other as "and or the purpose described.

2. In a vacuum tube lighting system, the combination of a divided source of energy consisting of one or more transformers, a tube or tubes in series supplied thereby, and a neutral connection between the transformer primaries and secondaries and runother.

' described.

sald transformers ning from one division of the source to the 3. In a vacuum tube lighting system, a divided source of energy whose elements operate the system inseries but are located re? spectively at the terminals thereof combined with a neutral wire running from one to the other, as and for the purpose described.

4. In a vacuum tube lighting -system, having tubes arranged in series, and provided with an intermediate'grou'nd connection, and a dividedfsource of energy operating said tubes in series and having an intermediate neutral grounded wire running from one division to the-other. 5. In a vacuum tube lighting system, a

pair of tubes arranged side by side and having at one end of the system a divided source of energy operating the tubes in series and prov ded with a neutral wire or connection,

.as'and for the purpose described;

6. A'vacuum tube lighting system comprising a three-wire, single-phase-system of supply conductors, two transformers located, respectively,at opposite ends or terminals of the installation and supplying the tube in series with one another, and a neutral-wire or connection running from the terminals of both primary and secondary of the two transformers. v

7,-In a vacuum tube lightlng system, a

pair of vacuum tubes, a pair of transformers supplying said tubes respectively with currents of difi'erent phase, and a neutral wire or connection between transformer secondar ies and primaries, as and for the purpose 8 In a vacuum tube lighting system, two 7 pairs of vacuum tubes and two divided sources of electrical energy supplying said pairs with currents of diiferentphase and provided with neutral wires or connections substantially as shown and described.

9.. A vacuum tube lighting system having a translucent tube, the endsor terminals of] which are located at'adistance from one 'dividual source of energy at each "end there-' another and individual sources of energyof and aground connection from the point of said sources. across which there is a zero- .difierence of potential. sions of said source runnin from oneter- 11.-In a vacuum tube lighting system, a pair of independently operatedtubes located inelectrical relation to each othera'ndoper ated by currents out of phase with each other. w

12. A vacuum tube lighting system operated by two transformers, one located conti uous to each end of the tube and each of having their points of zero potential in both their high-and low tension windings connected together to each and connected by a conductor other;

. ,13. vacunm tube lighting system oper- 'ated by sources of energy located cont' to the opposite ends of the tube, respectively, joined to the centers of each of said sources.

' 14. In a vacuum tube lighting tube, having its exciting'source 0 energy divided sections loceted,

of April A. 1). 1908.

system, a

respectively, at I of that through thetube.

Signed amt-New York in the county of New 15 York and State of New York this 14th day "DANIEL MOFARLAN MOORE.

-Witnesses: v

O. F. TIsoHNER, Jn, I LILLIAN BLOND. 

